Find the right place to start.
Each person is a unique individual in time and space. Each of us has our own history, our own weaknesses and strengths - some things at which we can succeed easily and others at which we fail miserably.
Even over the course of the day, you wax and wane. You are a different person now than you were when you woke up this morning, even though you have the same driver's license. You can tackle some things with more energy in the morning than in the evening, and vice versa. Sir William Osler, one of the greatest teachers in the history of medicine, divided his students into 'roosters' and 'owls' to account for some learners who came roaring out of the starting blocks first thing in the morning and others who worked better burning the midnight oil.
Horses, too, possess well-developed psyches. Every time we work with a horse - as handler, owner, or trainer - we must ask ourselves: Have I earnestly looked for the right place to start this particular horse for this particular task at this particular moment?
Imagine that you are in kindergarten. I am your teacher and it's my job to teach you to read. So I plop down a copy of Tolstoy's War and Peace in your lap and say, "Start." There's no way you will succeed, no matter how many times I ask. But then I may say, "Today is simply and utterly devoted to just one thing: the capital letter A." Now I have given you a task at which we are guaranteed to succeed as a team.
Like humans, each horse has a unique learning style and speed. He might be better at side-passing or jumping when he is full of energy in the morning, and better at ground-tying when he's tired in the afternoon. Or, you might find it tough to teach ground-tying in the evening when your horse wants to get back to his stall for the dinner bell; in that case, your best bet might be a switch to the morning for ground-tying lessons.
I have had other horse-owners accuse me of cheating because I teach my horse ground-tying when he's so pooped he barely wants to move. It looks like cheating because he succeeds so easily, but rearrange the letters in 'cheat' and you have 'teach' - and teaching means finding the right time and place to make it as easy as possible for your horse to succeed.
Also keep in mind that just because a task was easy yesterday does not mean it will be easy every day and every time. Think of each encounter with your horse as a unique point in time and space where you can maximise the potential for partnership. Every horse is trying to show you "Yes, this is how we can succeed" or "No, this is where we will fail." It's your job, as his partner, to look for those places where you and he cannot fail.
Even over the course of the day, you wax and wane. You are a different person now than you were when you woke up this morning, even though you have the same driver's license. You can tackle some things with more energy in the morning than in the evening, and vice versa. Sir William Osler, one of the greatest teachers in the history of medicine, divided his students into 'roosters' and 'owls' to account for some learners who came roaring out of the starting blocks first thing in the morning and others who worked better burning the midnight oil.
Horses, too, possess well-developed psyches. Every time we work with a horse - as handler, owner, or trainer - we must ask ourselves: Have I earnestly looked for the right place to start this particular horse for this particular task at this particular moment?
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| Horse-riding in Derbyshire with the 7 y.o. skewbald Sports Horse gelding, Rocket |
Like humans, each horse has a unique learning style and speed. He might be better at side-passing or jumping when he is full of energy in the morning, and better at ground-tying when he's tired in the afternoon. Or, you might find it tough to teach ground-tying in the evening when your horse wants to get back to his stall for the dinner bell; in that case, your best bet might be a switch to the morning for ground-tying lessons.
I have had other horse-owners accuse me of cheating because I teach my horse ground-tying when he's so pooped he barely wants to move. It looks like cheating because he succeeds so easily, but rearrange the letters in 'cheat' and you have 'teach' - and teaching means finding the right time and place to make it as easy as possible for your horse to succeed.
Also keep in mind that just because a task was easy yesterday does not mean it will be easy every day and every time. Think of each encounter with your horse as a unique point in time and space where you can maximise the potential for partnership. Every horse is trying to show you "Yes, this is how we can succeed" or "No, this is where we will fail." It's your job, as his partner, to look for those places where you and he cannot fail.
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